Can a tooth be too small for a crown?

Question

My first double tooth (next to canine) has broken off at the back so half of tooth is missing. My dentist has recently filled the back half (or replaced it) but it is already starting to break away after less than a week. She informed that the filling may not work and if so the tooth would need to be removed and a false tooth put in. Is there any alternative? I think she said my tooth is too small for a crown.

Norman Huefner, DDS · Answer

It's probably not that your tooth is too small, but there isn't enough strong tooth structure left for a tooth to retain a crown.  However, there are a couple of ways around this that you and your dentist consider.  One is doing a crown lengthening procedure, whereby your dentist or periodontist will remove some of the gums and bone around the tooth, and by doing this gives more tooth structure above the gums to support a crown.  Another way is to have a root canal and post and core, whereby the top of the tooth is increased in height, making it taller and bigger.  And, of course, your dentist could recommend doing both those procedures together.Now, you might just be better off, rather than risking spending time, money and effort on a crown that may not hold up long term, and doing procedures like crown lengthening, root canal, post and core, to extract the tooth and do an implant or bridge.  Both of these two procedures will be more long term predictable than the heroic procedures I mentioned in the beginning.

Can a tooth be too small for a crown?

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Can a tooth be too small for a crown?

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